


Alien Ski Ball

by monsterleadmehome



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, MSR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 09:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4473851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monsterleadmehome/pseuds/monsterleadmehome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mulder and Scully make a detour to a run down arcade on one of their many road trips.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alien Ski Ball

**Author's Note:**

> Based on my actual experience at a work party tonight. I just had to play the alien ski ball and it got me to thinking, what if Mulder and Scully had run across this game? And more importantly, would they have gotten as many tickets as I did?
> 
> Takes place in season 7, after Millenium, but before All Things.

The case was a bust. He knew almost from the start that it wasn't an X-file. It was rare, but it did sometimes happen. The autopsy turned up nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing supernatural, extraterrestrial, or otherwise spooky. He frowned as she read him back her findings. 

This time it left them in the middle of Nowhere, Texas with no flight until the next day. If he left it to Scully, they'd be cooped up in their respective hotel rooms until exactly three hours before their flight. Paperwork, she said. Beauty rest, she said. Fuck that, he wanted to have some fun.

He waited somewhat patiently outside her room, knocking only once, then shifting his weight to the other foot. He rattled the sunflower seeds in his pocket, but left them there. It had been several weeks since they'd kissed. She'd done nothing to stop him and much to his delight, seemingly returned his affection. But nothing had happened since. And how could it? They'd both been so busy. He thought briefly about the case with the author and the hearts. He had said that Scully was already in love. Could it really be true? Or was it just the ravings of a madman?

He was jarred from his thoughts as she yanked open the door. "What, Mulder?"

She hadn't changed yet. A good sign. "Did you see that crappy arcade across the street?"

A sigh escaped her lips. "I guess..."

"The hotel manager told me they have the best pizza in town. Feel like trying out his hypothesis?"

She groaned as if in protest, but turned back inside, leaving the door wide open as she gathered her things and turned out the lamp by the bed where she had been writing her notes. Ever the scholar, his Scully. 

"If I wasn't starving..." She started.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm incorrigible." He teased. 

One medium with pepperoni and mushrooms and a bucket of beer later, he jangled the tokens in front of her like the lost treasure of Atlantis. "Feeling lucky, Scully?"

He knew her rational side was all odds and figures. Facts over hunches, but every now and then, she surprised him. A lopsided grin overtook her face and the flush in her cheeks brought out the red in her hair. Maybe two beers ago, she would've told him off. "Sure, why not?"

They wandered into the labyrinth of neglected video games and feats of skill. Basketballs with too worn rubber. First person shooter games with defective guns. He smiled when he finally came upon it. It was like ski ball, but better. A gray alien with big black eyes sat at the top of the game, taunting the player to shoot the ball into the correct tunnel while it shot its ray gun to deflect it. He deposited a token. 

"You can't be serious, Mulder."

"Ski ball is one of the most difficult games in the entire arcade," he stated seriously. 

"You picked it because there's an alien."

"So? Betcha can't beat me." He popped a token into the machine in front of her. 

"Oh, it's on." She grinned.

He rolled his first ball and though the alien shot to deflect it, it landed right in the 5,000 point hole. Scully frowned as she managed to chuck three balls at the thing and not get one above the 1,000 point mark. 

Taking pity on his diminutive partner, Mulder shimmied up behind her and draped a lanky arm over hers. "It's all in the wrist," he said and proceeded to show her the proper aim. He drew back with her and they aimed together, releasing the ball down the track. Straight into the 10,000 point hole. Scully let out a squeal of excitement.

"Great!" He coached. "Again..." He started to say something else, but before he could finish, she interrupted. 

"Shut up, Mulder. I'm playing ski ball."


End file.
